Summary

Very enjoyable tournament, nice club/courts, friendly atmosphere, execellent organisation (many thanks to Alan Hathway!!!) LINK. 

I drove up & overnighted in the Womo: there was plenty of parking close to the club. 

I was seeded 3/4, had 4 good games, and won all 4, hence winning group B:

1. Michaela Schneider-Niefer  (12-10, 11-4, 11-9): I wasn't properly warmed-up, physically or mentally, not reacting quickly to Micheala's hard, short serve returns, and Michaela had a set point in the first game. After comfortably winning the second set, I relaxed a bit, and Michaela concentrated more, so the thirs was again close. 
2. Jan Wassermann-Fry (11-5,11-7,12-10): Jan was fit and fast, but a bit unprecise. I could take advantage of his loose balls to move him out of position so he couldn't reach my stops. In the third set he adjusted to my game, played tighter and with some good stops. He was disappointed not to take the third: I was relieved, so I could save energy for the semi-final!
3. Claus Brandenburger [2]  (7-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-6): at 09:00 on Sunday morning, we both started slowly, not reaching service returns, so in the first set it was even up to 7-7, then Claus took advantage of my mistakes and made a couple of good winning shots to take the first set.  I was a bit more awake in the second set, turning the tables, profitting from some mistakes and loose shots from Claus to take it 11-7. 3rd & 4th sets were still quite tight, but I kept up the pressure.
4.  Thorsten Schmees  ( 7-11, 12-10, 11-6, 17-15 ). Thorsten beat the number 1 seed (Thomas Rank) in the first round in 5 sets, and won his semi-final 3-0, so it was no surprise that this was the toughest game. Thorsten took the first set 11-7, but had to work for it. The 2nd set was close, I sneaked it 12-10. In the third set I reduced my error-quota and played some tight stops, winning it 11-6. The fourth was close the whole way: I had to defend several game-points, and Thorsten several match points, before a winner from me followed by a tin-shot from Thorsten sealed it at 17-15.   

Results on DSQV website.
 

Modus

102 players, organised into 5 groups (A-E) according to the "rangliste": it was not organised according to sex or age, rather according to ability, with the aim of giving everyone 4 close games, Players without a rangliste-rating were asked to name a ranglist-player of a similar standard, and were then allocated to a group by the organisers. As last year I had a close win against Holger Weber, I was allocated, like Holger,  to group B.

As semi-finalist, I have the option to play in Group A in the next ranglistentournament, which is in November. 

But first I must decide whether to play the München Squash Open on 15th/16th March and to choose between the Slowenian Masters and the 47. Deutsche Senioren-Einzelmeisterschaft 2025 München, which are unfortunately both on the first weekend in April.

Extract from FACTSHEET:

• Veranstalter: Deutscher Squash Verband e.V. 
• Ausrichter: Sportpark Nord Spielorte: Sportpark Nord Andernacher Str. 15 90411 Nürnberg Tel. 0911 9564030 
• Email: info@sportpark-nord.com 
• Homepage: https://www.sportpark-nord.com/ Termin: 22. und 23. Februar 2025 
• Spielzeiten: 
  • Samstag, 22.02.2025 / ab 10:00 Uhr alle Gruppen 
  • Sonntag, 23.02.2025/ ab 9:00 Uhr bis ca.17:00 Uhr
     

Austragungsmodus: Aufeinanderfolgende 16er Felder im KO-System, alle Plätze werden ausgespielt. Die beiden letzten Gruppen können davon abweichend eingeteilt werden. Es wird in einer Gesamtrangliste und in Altersklassenranglisten gewertet. 

Meldegebühr: 45,00 € pro Teilnehmer; muss vor Turnierbeginn in bar bei der Turnierleitung bezahlt werden. Die Meldegebühr beinhaltet ein gemeinsames Abendessen am Samstag. Spieler, die 0 bis 8 Tage vor Turnierstart ihre Teilnahme absagen, müssen unaufgefordert die Meldegebühr auf das Konto des DSQV überweisen. Der Grund der Absage spielt hierbei keine Rolle. 

Konto DSQV: DE25 4286 0003 0248 6294 00 -BIC: GENODEM1BOH

Hotel-Tipp: Hotel Alpha Ziegelsteinstrasse 197- 90411 Nürnberg Tel: 0911-95245-0 - Fax: 0911-95245-45 www.hotel-alpha.de - info@hotel-alpha.de 5 Minuten zu Fuß vom Center -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hotel Premier Inn Nürnberg City Nordost Leipziger Platz 22, 90491 Nürnberg Tel.: +49 911 88199025 ca. 5 Minuten mit dem Auto zum Center